Bartosz Kamil Kurek (born 29 August 1988) is a Polish professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player who plays as an opposite spiker for ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle and captains the Poland national team. Kurek took part in 4

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Paris 2024) winning silver medal in Paris. He also won the 2018 World Champion title as well as the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and the 2023 European Championship titles. In 2019, he became the first ever volleyball player to be voted the Polish Sports Personality of the Year.

Personal life

Kurek was born in

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; ; or ''Walmbrich''; or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland, seat of Wałbrzych County. Wałbrzych lies approximately southwest of the voivodeship capital Wrocław and about from the Czec ...

, but raised in Nysa. His father, Adam Kurek, was also a

player. Kurek played basketball in his early youth, but later decided to choose volleyball. He has a younger brother – Jakub. Kurek is married to Anna Grejman, former volleyball player.

Career

Club

Kurek began his career in a team from Nysa (2004–2005), where he played alongside his father. He spent the next 3 years playing for a

PlusLiga The PlusLiga is the highest level of men's volleyball in Poland, a professional league competition featuring volleyball clubs located in this country. It is overseen by Polska Liga Siatkówki SA (PLS SA). It is currently a 14 teams league from Oc ...

club, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle (2005–2008). In 2008, he moved to

PGE Skra Bełchatów PGE may refer to: * Pacific Gas and Electric Company, commonly abbreviated PG&E * Pacific Gas & Electric (band), an American blues rock band * Pacific Great Eastern Railway, the original name of BC Rail * Parser Grammar Engine, Perl 6 rule compil ...

, one of the most successful teams in

, where he quickly became a key player. With Skra, he won the Polish Championship three times: in 2009, 2010 and 2011. On the international stage, he won two Club World Championship silver medals, in

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, and a bronze medal of the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tota ...

in 2010. On 18 March 2012, they won a silver medal of the

after losing to Zenit Kazan in the final held in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Kurek received an individual award for the ''Best spiker'' of the tournament. After the

2011–12 PlusLiga The 2011–12 PlusLiga was the 76th season of the Polish Volleyball Championship, the 12th season as a professional league organized by the Professional Volleyball League SA () under the supervision of the Polish Volleyball Federation (). Ass ...

season, Kurek left PGE Skra Bełchatów, and signed a contract with the Russian team,

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

, however, due to injury, he was unable to play for his new team for a large part of the season. After one season in Russia, Kurek moved to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

club Lube Banca Macerata. In 2014, they won the Italian Championship, beating Sir Safety Perugia in the final. On 15 October 2014, Lube, including Kurek, won the Italian Super Cup, beating Copra Elior Piacenza (3–2). On 4 May 2015, Kurek signed a contract with Asseco Resovia. After winning a silver medal of the Polish Championship in 2016, he left Resovia and signed a contract with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese club JT Thunders. On 2 October 2016, he announced suspending his sports career due to physical and mental fatigue. At the same time, he terminated the contract with JT Thunders. In September, he moved back to his former club – PGE Skra Bełchatów. In 2018, Kurek joined Polish club

Stocznia Szczecin KPS Stocznia Szczecin – was a professional men's volleyball club based in Szczecin in northwestern Poland, founded in 2014 under the name Espadon Szczecin. The club used to compete in PlusLiga, having been promoted to the highest level of the ...

. On 29 November 2018, due to club's financial problems, Kurek terminated his contract with Stocznia. On 6 December 2018, he joined Onico Warsaw after leaving Stocznia Szczecin a few days earlier.

National team

Kurek was a part of the Poland national team which won a gold medal at the 2009 European Championship held in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. On 14 September 2009, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta. The Order was conferred on the following day by the Prime Minister of Poland,

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk served as the president of the European Council (20 ...

. On 10 July 2011, Kurek, alongside his national team, won Poland's first medal of the World League. They won a bronze medal after defeating

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Kurek received an individual award for the ''Best scorer'' of the final tournament. In the same year, Poland took part in the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, where they were the defending champions. Kurek was his team's key player throughout the whole tournament in which the Polish national team won a second medal in 2011 after winning the match for third place against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. At the same tournament, Kurek was awarded with his second individual award in 2011, for the ''Best server'' of the tournament. In November 2011, despite a back injury, Kurek went to Japan to participate at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, and helped his team win a silver medal and therefore qualify for the

. On 8 July 2012, the Polish team won a gold medal of the World League. Kurek received an award for the ''Most valuable player''. Kurek was one of the key players of the Polish team at the

(

), but nonetheless Poland lost in the quarterfinal to

, and was eliminated from the tournament. In 2014, he was a member of the Polish national team during the 2015 European Championship qualification. He was not included in the Polish national team for the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

held in

. After a one year break, he came back to the national team on 28 May 2015 during the first match of intercontinental round of the World League against

(3–0). He was a top scorer of the match (15 points). On 30 September 2018, Poland achieved its third title of the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. Poland beat Brazil in the final (3–0), and defended the title from 2014. Kurek received an individual award for the ''Most valuable player'' of the tournament. On 10 August 2024, he won the silver medal at the

2024 Summer Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris.

Honours

Club

2011–12 – with

* FIVB Club World Championship ** Silver medal world centered-2

Doha 2009 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** Silver medal world centered-2

Doha 2010 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów *

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed to CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 to CEV Cup. T ...

2017–18 – with Ziraat Bankası Ankara * Domestic ** 2008–09 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2008–09 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2009–10 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010–11 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010–11 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2011–12 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2013–14 Gold medal with cup

Italian Championship, with Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata ** 2014–15 Simple gold cup

Italian SuperCup, with Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia ** 2021–22 Simple gold cup

Emperor's Cup, with Wolfdogs Nagoya ** 2022–23 Gold medal with cup

Japanese Championship, with Wolfdogs Nagoya

Youth national team

* 2005

CEV U19 European Championship

Individual awards

* 2005: CEV U19 European Championship – Best spiker * 2009: FIVB Club World Championship – Best scorer * 2011: Polish Cup – Best spiker * 2011:

FIVB World League The FIVB Volleyball World League was an annual international men's volleyball competition. Created in 1990, it was the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The wome ...

– Best scorer * 2011: CEV European Championship – Best server * 2012:

– Best spiker * 2012:

– Most valuable player * 2018: FIVB World Championship – Most valuable player * 2018: CEV – Male volleyball player of the year * 2019: Polish Sports Personality of the Year 2018 * 2021: FIVB Nations League – Most valuable player (shared with Wallace de Souza) * 2021: FIVB Nations League – Best opposite spiker * 2021: Emperor's Cup – Most valuable player * 2022: FIVB World Championship – Best opposite spiker * 2023: Japan V.League – Most valuable player & Best SIX * 2023: Kurowashiki tournament – Most valuable player & Best SIX

State awards

* 2009:

Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta * 2018: POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR

Officer's Cross of Polonia Restituta * 2024: POL Polonia Restituta Komandorski BAR

Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta

Statistics

* 2015–16 PlusLiga �
Best scorer
(510 points) * 2015–16 PlusLiga �

(430 points)

References

External links

* * *
Player profile
at ''LegaVolley.it''
Player profile
at ''PlusLiga.pl''
Player profile
at ''Volleybox.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurek, Bartosz 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Wałbrzych Volleyball players from Lower Silesian Voivodeship Polish men's volleyball players Polish Champions of men's volleyball Italian Champions of men's volleyball Olympic volleyball players for Poland Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish expatriate volleyball players in Russia Polish expatriate volleyball players in Italy Polish expatriate volleyball players in Turkey Polish expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate volleyball players in Japan Stal Nysa players ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle players Skra Bełchatów players Volley Lube players Resovia (volleyball) players Ziraat Bankası volleyball players Projekt Warsaw players Outside hitters Opposite hitters Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Poland Olympic medalists in volleyball 21st-century Polish sportsmen